


Felis Silvestris Catus

by Eflauta



Category: Star Trek: Discovery
Genre: M/M, and a cat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-23
Updated: 2018-01-23
Packaged: 2019-03-08 09:38:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,046
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13455528
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eflauta/pseuds/Eflauta
Summary: In which Paul finds a kitten in space.





	Felis Silvestris Catus

**Author's Note:**

> In hastily penned and loving memory of Pippin, who was neither orange nor in space. 1.22.18

The USS Discovery had many, many routine sounds. The deep hum of the ship cushioned the daily clatter of footsteps and conversations. It wrapped around the silence right before each crewman fell asleep and faded out under the pressure of a good sonic shower.  It was nearly inaudible under any music or opera, but in Engineering it blanketed the silence of the forest Paul grew in Bay 1. 

There was something sacrosanct about that space, with its imported soil and space grown forest. The loam of earth and growth and decay overstepped the sanitized air and gave both the illusion and reality of something closer to home. 

Crouching down, he inspected the stems of the fruiting bodies, checking for any sign of disease or breakage. He didn’t expect any trouble, given that the forest was isolated from most planetside contact. But spores were everywhere, even in the so-called vacuum of space, and with the near imperceptible interdimensional mycelium network, it never really did hurt to check.

 

What he really wasn’t expecting was the tiny pricks of an extended claw, followed by a sharp little  _ “Mew!” _

_ “What?” _ He breathed out, pulling his hand a few inches back.

_ “MEW!”  _ Said a small, demanding orange kitten.

“Wha- Computer engage containment field on grid 58XJ” The flicker of the containment field stretched in front of him, boxing off a square around the little intruder. “Computer, analyze organisms present in 58XJ”

There was a chime, a pause, and then. “Grid 58XJ contains Aleuria aurantia,Cantharellus cinnabarinus, and Felis silvestris catus, male.”

 

He looked down at the cat. The cat looked at his shoes. The cat let out another meow, and pawed against the invisible barrier that kept it contained.

 

\----

 

It had taken him some time, but he managed to find a medium sized crate with a hinged door and enough breathing room for something living. He set it down right in front of the containment field, which he then disabled.

The kitten walked the opposite direction.

“Hey- hey, no- … computer reenable containment field on grid 58XJ and 58XK”

He watched nonplussed as the kitten batted at the glowing spores floating around it. The ridiculous animal’s fur coat was almost sparkling with the light of the spores where it rubbed it’s back against the fruiting bodies and gills.

 

\----

 

10 minutes later, he walked back into the Spore Bay with a handful of chicken and tuna flavored cat treats. He had no idea what cats  _ actually _ liked, but the database had suggested Friskies Cat Treats, and the replicator had accommodated the request. 

It took less than 5 minutes of crouching by the treat-baited carrier for the kitten to wander inside, and with a snap he trapped it behind crated bars.

It took less than 5 seconds for the cat to object.

An uneasy scuffling filled the crate when he picked it up and hauled it into the isle, but he had things to do and didn’t care so much for the  _ feline _ that he’d just found in his mushrooms. Besides, there were probably  _ more _ , and now he had to find them.

 

\----

 

Once he was finished checking the stems of the fungi in the Spore Bay forest, he took himself, the crate, and the curious cat back out into engineering. He put the crate down on the floor and without too much much thought nudged it to the side and got back to working. It wasn’t until the third little “ _ meow! _ ” that he noticed his entire staff staring in his direction.

“What.” He asked. “Get back to work.”

 

The kitten kept going, and went on for long enough that Paul was forced to bend down and ask it  _ “What?” _

Naturally, that only encouraged the kitten. For all he could figure, it was probably hungry, or needed the bathroom. Or maybe it was a mushroom cat with some connection to the fungi.

 

“Sir?” Tilly’s voice interrupted his thoughts.    


“Yes, Cadet?”

“I- … where did the cat come from?”

“The mushrooms.”

“The… that’s not wh- it did?”

“Apparently, yes. My mushrooms produce cats now.”

“More… than one?”

“Just the one so far. Why? Do you want it?”

“No, I-” The cadet let out a startlingly squeaky  _ sneeze.  _ “It’s just that I’m allergic.”

“Replicate some allergy meds while I figure out where it came from.”

“Yes sir. … but you said it was from-”

“But I don’t know  _ how.” _

Tilly nodded, and went to go retrieve some antihistamines before things got worse.

 

\----

 

6 hours later, Paul had a few of his answers. His entire engineering crew had changed over, the beta shift was nearly done, and he was beginning to think that the kitten truly had come through the network. Now, he had absolutely no idea  _ how,  _ but at least he had something.

What he had in answers, however, he lacked in peace and quiet. The little monster hadn’t shut up the entire time he had been working, and he was beginning to think that it wasn’t  _ capable. _

 

“You might want to try feeding it.” Hugh’s suggestion drifted over from just past his desk. 

“What would I feed it?”

“Cat food.”

“Why is everyone here an expert on cats?”

“Tilly said you found it in your spore bay.”

“Yeah, the little guy was just  _ there.” _

Hugh glanced down at the crate for a moment, but then held out two dinner plates he’d carried with him.

“I brought you something.”

“I’m fine.”

“It’s halfway through  _ my _ shift.”

“...What is it?”

“Grilled cheese, no soup.”

“I thought you were on the double rotation today”   


“I am, this is halfway through the second. More than.”

Paul nodded and ate some of the food.

“What are you going to do with him?” Hugh asked

“How do you know it’s a him?”

“Orange tabbies almost always are. It’s the calicos that are the female ones.   


“Do you like them?”   


“Cats?”

“Yeah”

“Pretty sure we’re not allowed to have them”

“I can’t just keep them  _ here” _

“I’ll think about it.”

\----

In the end, it wasn’t Hugh and Paul that adopted the kitten. Every time they took him too far from the spores, he managed to find an escape route and wind his way back. No one in particular adopted the new addition, but it did seem like by default, the cat had adopted the crew.


End file.
